Tuesday, December 24, 2013

I'm excited to welcome the beautiful Heather from Notes from the Nelsens today. I featured Heather's blog back in February and I'm happy to have her back to share a great recipe with you now :)
(Perfect for today, too- if you want to make cookies for Santa tonight!)

That cute guy in the picture with me is my hubby, Matt. We started dating in high school and got married six years later after graduating from Clemson (Go TIGERS!) and Furman. We're Atlanta natives who moved back to the city after college.

We bought our first house in 2010 and flipped the entire thing before moving in. You can check out the whole-house renovation here, learn more about us (including goofy pictures of our high school dating years) here, here, and here, and see a list of places we have traveled here.

Monday, December 23, 2013

If this is how you feel when you survey the growing collection of toys in your home, then you may find today's post helpful!

This morning I'll be interviewed on several radio shows across Canada about the idea of a Toyless Christmas, so I thought I would share a list on the blog of Non-Toy Gift Ideas that can serve as a reference for birthdays and Christmas when you're feeling overwhelmed with toys!

- Horse & Buggy Ride
- Train Ride
- Ice Cream Vouchers
- Special dinner out
- A Trip to the Fire Station
- A Trip to Chuckie Cheese (buy the tokens ahead of time so you have something to wrap!)
- Coupon book with "time" gifts (ie. an afternoon makingcookies with mom)

- Educational App they can play on your phone/ipod/tablet or Computer Game
- Items they need for lessons (costume/instrument/etc.)
- A new game for a game console
- A refill for an easy bake oven or other toy requiring refills
- A pet! (perhaps a "certificate" saying that you will go and pick one out together)

- Contribute to an education savings plan (Ideas for how to make that more Fun)
- Pet Accessories/supplies
- iTunes gift card
- grandparents can take the grandchildren for a sleepover and let their parents go on a getaway!

If you want to refer to this list in the future, you can on Pinterest for later!